KotH trainyard

Warjunkie

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2012
7
0
This is my first map ever, so I'm learning as I go along.

Feedback/tips are welcomed and appreciated.
 
Last edited:

tyler

aa
Sep 11, 2013
5,102
4,621
Don't carve! I have to go to work RIGHT NOW but someone please help him to not carve. I can see the carving! ACK!!
 

Warjunkie

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2012
7
0
It's really that bad?

I found the arch tool, but it seems like a lot of work to pull the vertexes around into the shape of a wall. I can't think of any other way to do it. :(
 

Micnax

Back from the dead (again)
aa
Apr 25, 2009
2,109
1,585
Don't carve! I have to go to work RIGHT NOW but someone please help him to not carve. I can see the carving! ACK!!

q2GFx.png


If you want to make arches, change the block field to arch in the Primitives category menu and use the settings there. You can also edit vertices with the Vertex Edit Tool ( :vertextool: )
 

Warjunkie

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2012
7
0
Working on it now, but why is it better as opposed to carving?

Aside from crashing hammer :l
 

Micnax

Back from the dead (again)
aa
Apr 25, 2009
2,109
1,585
Carving can create a lot of off-grid and invalid brushes in your map, especially microscopic ones (which can cause havok if you try sealing the map with one!)

You should never really use it at all unless you're cutting a very simple, on-grid and large square out of a very simple shape, but then they that's much easier to do with the vertex tool.
 

Warjunkie

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2012
7
0
WxvT3.png


That was so much harder. I guess it cleaned my views up a bit though.

I carved the steps in my stairs as well. http://i.imgur.com/P7pfX.png Does that look fine? Also how do I get those wall textures to line up? xD
 
Last edited:

Warjunkie

L1: Registered
Jun 22, 2012
7
0
You should func_detail those arches and stairs for optimization purposes. Select the brushes and hit ctrl+t. Read more on that here: http://www.optimization.interlopers.net/index.php?chapter=func_detail
In fact, I would recommend reading all of that. It is very important your map runs well.

Also. It seems very small, and enemies can see each other out of spawn. Reminds me more of a trade map than a competitive map.

Not done with the layout yet. I'm going to have something on the side opposite the stairs. I just saw how big the game's train models are as well, so I definitely have to pull everything back farther. Stairs are going to lead up to a room overlooking the hill, which I hope creates a tactical vantage point. Trains and tracks in the middle obstructing the view you mentioned.

Putting a little more thought into this than what I'm showing right now ^^
 
Last edited:

Ravidge

Grand Vizier
aa
May 14, 2008
1,544
2,818
I carved the steps in my stairs as well. http://i.imgur.com/P7pfX.png Does that look fine? Also how do I get those wall textures to line up? xD

It's not a huge issue in the case of the stairs. But it never hurts to learn the right way from the start.
For some simple stairs you want it to look like this:

Screenshot-2012-06-24_04.05.23.png

Where each step is 8 units high and 12 units deep/wide(?)
a 8:12 ratio in other words, is the standard in tf2. You can make custom ratios and sizes, but if you want good looking simple stairs I suggest you keep to the "default".

The steps should always be func_detail and there is never a excuse for not doing that. The big wedge underneath can be func_detail or left as a world brush depending on circumstances, in a majority of cases I'd say it too should be func_detailed.
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
Yeah, your stairs look like they're straight-up off-grid right now, which I can only assume is the reason you weren't able to make them proper triangles.

EDIT: Oh, and. You're gonna need to use a different name. There are probably about a dozen different Trainyards floating around out there, and while they're probably all terrible and not likely to be residing on the hard drives of anyone on this forum, it's still considered bad practice to use an already-taken name.
 
Last edited: